As the opposition’s parliamentary inquiry into manufacturing gathers pace, it is worth taking another look at manufacturing and the chief culprit blamed for its troubles: the high dollar and the monetary regime. First, the recent decline of manufacturing has been grossly overstated. Read more
Even political leaders used to hopping from conference to conference do not often fly halfway around the world and back for a weekend meeting. It’s even more remarkable when most of Europe’s political leaders go on such a journey together – but it happened last weekend. Read more
When cyclist Lance Armstrong finally confessed to Oprah that he won all his Tour de France titles by using a cocktail of banned substances, he received widespread condemnation. Rightly so. Read more
Housing is back in the papers again after the release of the ninth annual Demographia International Housing Affordability Survey. House prices in Auckland have topped their 2007 peak, which sparked comment from Minister of Finance, Bill English, who said if councils didn’t approve more land for development, power to do so might be relocated closer to the Beehive. Read more
This week, we heard news falling straight from the category “Only in Ireland”. What happened? Read more
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When Greece got into trouble more than three years ago, many observers were puzzled. How could a country accounting for about 3 per cent of eurozone GDP be 'too big to fail'? Read more
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Surprisingly, readers of this column often ask me: who is going to win this year’s German federal election? I find it so surprising because the result, just about nine months ahead of election day, already looks like a foregone conclusion. Read more
Later this month, British Prime Minister David Cameron will give a speech that has been postponed many times before. He will finally set out his vision of Britain’s place in Europe. Read more
To call Grard Depardieu a French living treasure would be an understatement. The actor, filmmaker and businessman is one of France’s top stars, popular around the world and celebrated for the wide range of characters he has played throughout his career. Read more
If you ever wanted to see a German church moderately filled, you will now have to wait for another year. With the possible exception of natural disasters and other emergencies, Christmas is the only time you struggle to find a seat on a church bench. Read more
In case you have not noticed it, the euro crisis is over. It must be because EU Commission President Jos Manuel Barroso, ECB President Mario Draghi and French President Franois Hollande all said so over the past six months. Read more
Dear Insights subscriber, This is the last issue of Insights for 2012 before we break for the Christmas and New Year holidays, so please excuse me from deviating from the normal format of this newsletter. Every Friday for the past six months, we have been delivering you three short opinion articles along with links to our favourite stories on the web – whether outrageous, important, interesting or just funny. Read more
Not just since Silvio Berlusconi’s announcement to run once more for the top job in Italian politics has Italy been a perplexing country. In any other nation, the prospect of a 76-year-old convicted tax evader re-entering politics would be laughed at – especially if, like Berlusconi, he was with one foot in prison, had a dubious personal reputation and a poor political track record. Read more